Quinn says Blago budget cut is bone-headed’

Wednesday

Sep 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 26, 2007 at 2:54 AM

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday said Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration is being “bone-headed” by cutting funds that help Illinois school and park districts buy state-mandated heart defibrillators for their athletic facilities.

Mike Ramsey

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday said Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration is being “bone-headed” by cutting funds that help Illinois school and park districts buy state-mandated heart defibrillators for their athletic facilities.

The governor’s recent budget cuts totaling more than $400 million included the entire $100,000 fiscal 2008 allocation that was anticipated for the HeartSavers AED Trust Fund, Quinn said. He said the fund, administered by the state Department of Public Health, offers units of local government matching grants to purchase “automated external defibrillators” at specially negotiated prices of about $800 each.

Quinn said Blagojevich paradoxically signed legislation that allows private schools to apply for the grant assistance.

“We expanded eligibility for the grant but zapped the money,” the lieutenant governor said. “It’s kind of bone-headed.”

The trust fund is not empty. It contains $65,500, according to Kimberly Parker, spokeswoman for the state health agency. She said administrators anticipate releasing up to $125,000 in grants this fiscal year ending June 30, with private donations making up the difference. About $35,000 for the fund was generated through a check-off donation box on state income tax forms.

The governor vetoed hundreds of millions in spending from the new state budget last month after lawmakers rejected his demands for a near-universal health-care program and a controversial business tax to pay for it. The House and Senate could override Blagojevich’s cuts via supermajority votes, but Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has indicated he won’t allow an override to occur in his chamber.

“I consider the AED mission to be a core priority of government; it’s part of public health and safety,” Quinn said. “There are too many items like that in the (governor’s) veto. I think the veto was ill-considered.”

A 2004 state law requires that defibrillators — devices that can re-start hearts after cardiac arrest — must be available by 2009 at all public park district, school, college and university gyms and fitness centers.

Jim Russell, spokesman for the Illinois Association of School Boards, said his organization opposed the unfunded mandate. Though the trust fund was subsequently created, Russell said comptroller records indicate the account handed out only about $73,100 of the more than $125,000 it contained in fiscal 2007. He said school districts may be going it alone when purchasing the AED units.

Quinn and Blagojevich are both Chicago Democrats and ran on the same ticket in the 2002 and 2006 general elections. Quinn broke with his boss earlier this year over the governor’s business tax but said he isn’t sure if Blagojevich is trying to send him a retaliatory message with the cut in defibrillator money. Quinn has been a major proponent of the initiative.

Quinn also disagrees with Blagojevich on the issue of gambling expansion. The governor previously opposed adding more casinos but now supports a capital-spending plan approved by the Senate last week that relies on three new gaming venues, including one for Chicago. It also would expand gambling capacity at existing sites.

The lieutenant governor said voters should decide in a referendum whether Illinois should expand its gaming industry in such an “excessive” manner.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, invited the other legislative leaders and Blagojevich to a meeting about the casino-fueled capital bill. It was slated to begin at 9:30 this morning at Cross’s Chicago office in the James R. Thompson Center, a spokesman said.

Mike Ramsey can be reached at (312) 857-2323 or ghns-ramsey@sbcglobal.net.

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